Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Today I had a lot of fun with my workout!
Word of caution,you may feel like a dancin' fool after this one :P Me, I felt a bit silly in the beggining of it, but when you feel just how much your legs and abs and everything are working, you go for it :D

First I warmed up:

Then, danced :P

Then I stretched with the same warm up video just to reduce the amount of soreness in my legs and butt.

I liked this so much that I may do this tomorrow as well :D It really got my heart rate up but in a fun way! and it's only about 5 minutes!

Monday, May 19, 2014

Hey all.
So I've realized that setting goals of working out EVERY single day for half an hour, up to two hours, every day...is just not realistic for me right now. I think this is a big reason that I stopped working out for about 3 weeks. Anyway, I've now committed myself to working out 2-4 days a week, aiming for 3 days a week, for 15-20 minutes at a time. This way, I feel I have no excuse for not working out. 15 or 20 minutes a day is an easy enough time to set aside!

So here are some work outs I've been doing for those 15-20 minutes :)

I always start out with this warm up before doing any yoga routine:

Then, I will usually do one, or if I'm feeling really good, two of the following:

Then, I usually cool down by doing some light stretching or one of the following yoga videos:

I have to admit, I absolutely HATE doing any ab work out. HATE it. But, when a video is less than 10 minutes long for the abs, I feel I can better commit to it and actually get up and do it. The goal right now for me is to keep up with the workouts as best as I can 15-20 minutes a day, 3 or more days a week. Hopefully once I make this a habit, I can create bigger, yet attainable goals for myself when it comes to my workouts :)

Thursday, May 15, 2014

Lately my back has been flaring up with it's stiffness, pain, and just all around comfortableness. It sucks. Anyone who suffers from back pain, can definitely agree!

Here are a few things that have helped my chronic back pain over the years as well as recently. I hope it helps some of you back pain sufferers out there!

Yoga has probably been the number one thing that has helped my back pain over the years. Not only does almost every move in yoga strengthen your core, which then helps to less strain on your back (or so I hear), but a lot of yoga poses help to stretch out the back.

Here are some poses that have helped me:

Downward Dog

Child's Pose

Child's pose can be done with the hands/arms behind you as shown, or you can place them out in front of you, stretching forward. When doing the second option, sometimes it feels really nice on my lower back to shift my knees further a part rather than closer together.

Variation of Child's Pose

Knees to Chest

This pose is extremely helpful, especially when I first wake up in the morning and need a good stretch. You can even do it right in bed! Also, while holding your knees, as shown, you can gently rock back and forth. This really helps to release any lower back tension.

This is just ONE of the many youtube videos for lower back pain yoga stretches that have really helped me.

Remember, yoga, especially when it comes to relieving any kind of pain, is not about how perfect you can get the pose or how flexible you are. Listen to your body and do what feels good, back off of things that don't. Also, you have to keep at it. Although some stretching can help instantly with pain and discomfort, yoga is meant to be practiced. Even if it is 5 minutes before bed, your back will surely thank you!

Other things to consider:

Do you do a lot of bending and or lifting through out the day? If so, make sure your bend from the knees and not through your back. If something is too heavy, ask for help. This is something I have definitely been doing to help prevent injury but also to help lessen the usual chronic pain I have with my back. I work retail and it can be very physical at times. If I feel there is a potential I could hurt my back, I take my time and ask for help when I need to.

Are you drinking enough water? Water is IMPORTANT. Not only can water improve your skin and over all health, but it can actually help your back immensely! Water helps to keep our bodies (joints, muscles, and so on) moving so drink as much water as you can.

Consider seeing a chiropractor. I know that seeing a chiropractor really helped me when my back pain first started about 6-7 years ago. I can remember being so scrunched up and tight that I couldn't even sit upright without being in excruciating pain. I am a firm believer in taking pain as a warning sign. If you are in more than just a little bit of pain and it persists, see a doctor and have them refer you to a chiropractor if that is the best thing for you.

Ice and heat. This is another thing where you should just listen to your body's needs. Usually a hot shower or warm/wet heat (as in a wet and warm washcloth) can help more than an ice pack for me. However, some times ice is also useful in my case. You can also use things like icy hot or aspercream if you find they help. However, creams and rubs have never really done the trick for me. Like I said, it is all about listening to your body. There's also over the counter asprin/advil/alieve you can take for inflammation and so on. However, those have never really ever touched my own back pain.

An herbal remedy that has helped not only my back pain, but my chronic knee pain as well, has been a tea, actually. Yogi tea makes a tea called 'joint comfort'. This tea has been something I have had to get used to just because it does not taste the best. It tastes kind of minty...herbal-ly? I'm not the best at describing tastes. Anyway, I usually use one-two tea bags a day with one green or black tea bag as well as some honey/brown sugar. When I combine it with another tea bag, it tastes pretty good actually! This tea also has ingredients that are meant to calm inflammation. It's awesome :)

Don't forget, breathing can sometimes prove beneficial. Just breathing! think about it, when you're driving to work or school and you don't even remember how you arrived at your destination. Were you even breathing correctly? Were you slouched in your seat the entire ride? Noticing things like this can really help your back pain in the long run, at least it has for me!

I hope this blog post has helped some of you out there and feel better!

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Hello, I'm Dana and welcome to my blog! I am 28 and hold Bachelors degree in Social Work as well as a minor in Holistic Health! On my blog you'll find loads of different posts from beauty, to books, to lifestyle, to...well whatever I feel like writing about at any given moment. So follow me if you wish to read on more. Also feel free to leave a comment if you just want to talk/connect! : )